CNN exit poll: 59 percent of Ohio voters approved of auto bailout

Fifty-nine percent of Ohio voters approved of the $80-billion bailout of the U.S. auto industry, according to a CNN exit poll of voters in the Buckeye State.

The 2008 and 2009 loans to General Motors and Chrysler have dominated the campaign in Ohio, which observers have said could be the decisive swing state in Tuesday’s election between President Obama (D) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R).

CNN’s exit poll showed 59 percent of Ohio’s voters said they supported the auto bailout, compared to 36 percent who said they were opposed to assistance to the car companies.

The bailouts began under former President George W. Bush, but the Obama campaign has argued that the president’s continuance of the program “saved” the U.S. auto industry. Romney has sought to push back on Democratic criticism for a 2008 op-ed he wrote that was headlined “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” by arguing that the auto companies are moving jobs overseas.

Chrysler and GM have vehemently denied the outsourcing accusations, and Democrats have seized on the company’s statements to argue that Romney was lying to Ohio voters.

---